BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University volleyball team capped off its opening home weekend with its second Southern Conference victory after it won 3-0 over UNCG on Saturday, Sep. 26, inside the Pete Hanna Center.
The Bulldogs (7-5, 2-0 SoCon) used a balanced effort to take down the Spartans (10-7, 0-2 SoCon) and hit an even .200 on the match with 46 digs which outpaced the opposing team's .176 and 42 digs.
"We were much more focused and attentive to the scouting report," Head Coach
Derek Schroeder said. "The team just stayed resolute in what we were trying to do in each rotation and that was enough to get us through to 21-21 or 22-22, then we used our home energy to make some plays whenever we needed to make some plays."
"I'm very happy with that and with the defense we played this weekend. I'm kind of excited to watch the film and get back to work for next weekend," Schroeder continued.
Offensively, it was senior
Emily Meitz who sparked the Samford offense and scored three of Samford's last four points to put away the deciding third set 29-27. Meitz committed zero attack errors in the match where she tallied 11 kills on just 20 attacks (.550).
The Bulldogs had to rally in the second set of the match as they found themselves down 20-13 to the Spartans but surged back behind the tough serving from freshman
Alana Schouten to set the stage for the comeback 28-26 victory in the set to go up 2-0 going into the intermission.
Junior
Erin Bognar matched Meitz for a team-high 11 kills while also chipping in six digs and a service ace. Sophomore transfer libero
Morgan St. Germain paced the Bulldogs defensively with 10 digs in the match.
After sitting out the first month of competition the Bulldogs saw the return of junior
Mattie Newson to the lineup. Newson provided much needed support for Samford at the serving line and on the back row defensively. She tallied one ace and dug four balls in the match against the Spartans.
Samford hits the road again next weekend for a pair of SoCon matches against Wofford College and The Citadel. Fans can follow the Bulldogs on Facebook or on Twitter by following @SamfordVB.
